Kraft tape is made with kraft paper as the carrier for the adhesive.  Kraft paper is usually a brown color because of the kraft process, however sometimes the kraft is bleached to make white paper for custom printing or esthetic purposes.  The kraft process, developed in the 1880’s converts wood into wood pulp to make paper.  Kraft, comes from the German word, meaning power and strength.  Paper tapes are most often used as packaging tapes because they are biodegradable, recyclable and bond well to recycled cartons in dusty and dirty conditions.

Kraft tapes are available in two basic types; non reinforced and reinforced.  The reinforced type contains a fiberglass yarn for added strength and is supplied with a water activated adhesive.  The non reinforced type is supplied with water activated adhesive and with a pressure sensitive adhesive.  The paper tape with pressure sensitive is also referred to a ‘flat back’ tape.  The US Postal Service and UPS has approved certain brands of these tapes because of their excellent tear and recyclable characteristics.

The water activated versions of kraft paper tapes use an interesting type of vegetable adhesive which contains starch, sugar, water and other ingredients to improve performance.  Various manual, semi-automatic and automatic taped dispensers have been developed to help apply the tape to cartons with ease.